The present invention relates to a device for anchoring, or securing, a light source to a substrate, and more particularly, it relates to a suspended light source holder for a hollowed-out organic pumpkin, or jack-o-lantern.
With millions upon millions of pumpkins being sold each year to home-owners and trick-or-treaters throughout the world, jack-o-lanterns are perhaps the best known symbol of Halloween. Classic jack-o-lanterns are lanterns made of a pumpkin or other vegetable, having been prepared so as to show, for example, features of a human face in illumination. The tradition of hollowing-out and carving a pumpkin to form a jack-o-lantern, and lighting it from within, is one that hearkens back hundreds of years to Irish folklore and to the story of a disreputable and immoral blacksmith named Jack, whose notorious propensity for the drink was surpassed only by his penchant for playing mean-spirited practical jokes. Legend has it that Jack even played a trick or two on the devil himself, such that, on dying, Jack was allowed entrance to neither heaven nor hell. The story goes that Jack was instead doomed to wander for eternity in the grey darkness of limbo, with only a burning ember to light his way; the ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to maintain its light on his unending journey. The first fearful believers in Jack""s eternal plight carved similar lanterns out of turnips and beets, and placed lit candles therewithin to ward off evil spirits. Over the years, the tradition has evolved and, while jack-o-lanterns are most commonly carved from pumpkins nowadays, they remain one of the spookiest and most chilling images to greet a young trick-or-treater travelling door to door on Halloween. Of course, with the advent of the jack-o-lantern as a prominent symbol of Halloween, there has been an increasing demand to safely provide for the proper illumination thereof.
Typically, in order to form a jack-o-lantern from a self-harvested or store-bought organic pumpkin, a user will use a pointed knife to carve a continuous circuit through an outer surface of a top portion of the pumpkin, circumscribing a selectively removable lid portion of the top portion and defining a corresponding aperture in the top portion of the pumpkin. The lid portion is then removed and a mass of pumpkin pulp and seeds contained therewithin is withdrawn, either by hand or using a spoon or other utensil, through the corresponding aperture in the top portion of the pumpkin. Having so hollowed out the pumpkin, the pointed knife is then utilized to carve a desired visage or other image into the outer surface of the pumpkin, removing any interstitial pieces therefrom. With the jack-o-lantern thus formed, a light source may then be positioned within same to provide for its illumination.
Historically, a lit candle positioned on an inside bottom surface of the jack-o-lantern has been the most common way of illuminating same, but use of the candle in this manner has inherent problems. For one, every pumpkin has a raised mound located on its inside bottom surface, also known as a bloom point, making it very hard to securely balance a candle in position thereon. This difficulty in securely balancing the candle on the bloom point leads to a significant possibility that the candle may become overturned, posing a serious risk of fire in the event that the candle is, or was, lit.
Numerous methods and devices have been developed to illuminate the jack-o-lantern by securely positioning candles at the bloom point thereof, such as, for example, using a considerable quantity of melted wax dripped directly on the inside bottom surface in substantially surrounding relation to the candle, such that the wax effectively affixes the candle to the jack-o-lantern on hardening. According to another similar method commonly used for this purpose, the candle is secured in hardened wax on an appropriately sized plate, which plate and candle are then placed on the inside bottom surface of the jack-o-lantern. However, after Halloween has ended and the jack-o-lantern has been disposed of, it can be very difficult for a user to clean the hardened wax from the plate. Furthermore, these last two methods both suffer from a common problem, in that the candles tend to become precarious and/or detached when the jack-o-lantern is moved or when, after the candle is lit, the hardened wax securing the candle to the jack-o-lantern softens due to heat from the candle""s flame.
Examples of devices that have been developed to illuminate the jack-o-lantern by securing the candle to the inside bottom surface can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,807 (Chance et al.) for a Spiral Coil Candle Holder for Pumpkins and Other Substrates, and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,279 (Hedlund) for a Candle Holder for Jack-O-Lantern. The Chance patent discloses a spiral coil candle holder which may embedded into the inside bottom surface of the jack-o-lantern in a corkscrew-like manner. A first problem with the Chance patent is that the spiral coil candle holder described therein is susceptible to torque forces generated when moving the jack-o-lantern. As well, the corkscrew-like motion described in the Chance patent for affixing the candle holder to the jack-o-lantern is highly inefficient and requires the expenditure of a significant amount of time and effort on the part of the user. The Hedlund patent overcomes these problems, and discloses a candle holder of a hemispherical shape, being modelled after the configuration of the top portion of a generic pumpkin. The Hedlund candle holder defines a hollow interior portion, so as to accommodate the bloom point when one or more anchors of the candle holder are embedded straight into the inside bottom surface of the jack-o-lantern.
In addition to the various individual problems so far discussed, however, there is a problem that is common to all of the above-referenced methods and devices for illuminating the jack-o-lantern by mounting the candle on the inside bottom surface thereof, including the traditional precarious balancing of the candle on the bloom point, the wax methods described above, and both the Chance patent and the Hedlund patent. Specifically, in attempting either to light a candle positioned on the inside bottom surface of the jack-o-lantern, or to position a lit candle thereon, either with or without a supporting candle holder, there is a significant risk of injury and burn to a hand, wrist, and forearm of a user. This risk of injury is made even greater by the customary sizing of the lid portion and the corresponding aperture in the top portion of the jack-o-lantern, which aperture typically provides little more than the minimum necessary clearance for passage therethrough of a hand carrying the lit candle, match, or lighter. Further, because the aperture is typically located immediately above the position for the lit candle on the inside bottom surface of the jack-o-lantern, it is necessary for the user, having so placed or lit the candle, to withdraw his or her hand from within the jack-o-lantern, through the aperture, along a path that crosses the rising heat waves immediately above the cone of the candle""s flame, thus still further risking a burn injury. As well, lighting a candle that is already positioned on the inside bottom surface of the jack-o-lantern can be very awkward and difficult, requiring a significant expenditure of time and effort on behalf of the user.
Lastly, all of the methods and devices so far described for illuminating jack-o-lanterns from within are subject to an additional problem. That is, because interstitial pieces are removed from the carved image in the outer surface of the pumpkin, there is a significant risk that the lit candle positioned within the jack-o-lantern may be extinguished by an errant autumn wind.
The primary object of the invention is to provide a suspended light source holder for a jack-o-lantern that aids in preventing injury and burns that may be sustained by a user while lighting a candle, or while positioning a lit candle, within the jack-o-lantern.
Another object of the invention is to provide a suspended light source holder for a jack-o-lantern that facilitates the lighting of the candle positioned within the jack-o-lantern, as well as the positioning of the lit candle within same.
A further object of the invention is to provide a suspended light source holder for a jack-o-lantern that reduces the risk of fire.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a suspended light source holder for a jack-o-lantern that securely engages the jack-o-lantern.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a suspended light source holder for a jack-o-lantern that securely engages the light source.
A yet still further object of the invention is to provide a suspended light source holder for a jack-o-lantern that is heat resistant.
Another object of the invention is to provide a suspended light source holder for a jack-o-lantern that facilitates the changing of the light source.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a suspended light source holder for a jack-o-lantern that, together with the light source, provides for the effective illumination of the jack-o-lantern from within.
Still yet another object of the invention is to provide a suspended light source holder for a jack-o-lantern that does not require extensive clean-up on removal from the jack-o-lantern.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a suspended light source holder for a jack-o-lantern that reduces the risk of the candle or other light source being untimely extinguished.
Another object of one aspect of the invention is to provide a suspended light source holder for a jack-o-lantern that will maintain a candle in substantially upright relation, even accommodating jack-o-lanterns with uneven or crooked top portions.
Another object of the invention is to provide a suspended light source holder for a jack-o-lantern that has a durable and reliable construction.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a suspended light source holder for a jack-o-lantern that is easy to use and inexpensive to manufacture.
There is thus provided, according to one aspect of the invention, a suspended light source holding apparatus for a non-artifical jack-o-lantern having a top integument portion, said apparatus comprising a light source holding portion positionable within the interior of the jack-o-lantern, and means for removablely securing said light source holding portion to the top integument portion of the non-artificial jack-o-lantern by way of frictional engagement of said securing means with said too integument portion from said interior without extension of said apparatus through said too intgument portion of said non-artificial jack-o-lantern to the exterior of said jack-o-lantern.
According to another aspect of the invention, the suspended light source holder further comprises means for spacing said light source holding portion in suspended spaced relation from the top integument portion of the jack-o-lantern, below said securing means.
According to another aspect of a first embodiment of the invention, said spacing means comprises three rigid leg members, with each of said three rigid leg members having a leg upper end portion adjacent said securing means, and a leg lower end portion adjacent said light source holding portion. In said first embodiment, the securing means comprises three barb members, with each of said three barb members in substantially juxtaposed relation with said leg upper end portion of a respective one of said three rigid leg members. Also in the first embodiment, the securing means further comprises three barb limit members, with each of said three barb limit members respectively positioned between each of said three barb members and said leg upper end portion of said respective one of said three rigid leg members.
According to another aspect of a second and a third embodiment of the invention, said spacing means comprises a first swivel member and two rigid leg members positioned in substantially load balanced equilibrium with said light source holding portion, with said first swivel member adjacent said securing means, and with each of said two rigid leg members having a leg upper end portion adjacent said first swivel member and a leg lower end portion adjacent said light source holding portion. Also in said second and said third embodiment, said securing means comprises a second mating swivel member engaging said first swivel member in fastened pivoting relation, and a barb member in substantially juxtaposed relation with said second mating swivel member. Said securing means of said second and said third embodiment also has a heat shield member interposed between said barb member and said second mating swivel member. In said second and said third embodiment of the invention, said first swivel member comprises a catch member, such as, for example, an eye member and said second mating swivel member comprises a hook member.
According to a further aspect of said first and said second embodiments of the invention, the light source holding portion is shaped so as to define a recessed light securing portion, said recessed light securing portion comprising a bottom surface that is shaped so as to define an aperture therethrough. According to a still further aspect of said first and said second embodiments of the invention, said spacing means further comprises a selectively openable and closable non-opaque windscreen member.
According to another aspect of said third embodiment of the invention, said light source holding portion comprises a first light source securing member and a second light source securing member, with each of said two rigid leg members engaging a different one of said first light source securing member and said second light source securing member. Also in said third embodiment, each of said first light source securing member and said second light source securing member is respectively substantially circular in shape. According to a further aspect of said third embodiment of the invention, each of said first and said second light source securing members is shaped so as to define a recessed light securing portion, said recessed light securing portion comprising a bottom surface that is shaped so as to define an aperture therethrough. According to a still further aspect of said third embodiment of the invention, each of said first and second light source securing members respectively further comprises selectively openable and closable non-opaque alternate windscreen member, with each said alternate windscreen member being respectively positioned in substantially circumferential relationship around a respective one of said first and second light source securing members.